When did walking 10,000 steps a day become a thing?
Most people have heard something about this.
Where’d it come from?
Does it matter? Does it even matter if you hit 5,000 or 7,000 steps instead?
Here’s the true story.
Where’d 10,000 Steps Come From?
The year was 1965, and the afterglow of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics had created a fitness craze across Japan. The Yamasa Clock and Instrument Company — now known as Yamasa Tokei Keiki Co. — was looking to capitalize on this newfound enthusiasm for physical activity by introducing one of the world’s first wearable pedometers to the market. The pedometer measured your steps and your walking distance.
They named it the Manpo-Kei — “10,000 step meter.”
No science whatsoever behind it. They simply picked that number because it looks cool in Japanese writing, like a guy walking. The Japanese character for 10,000 is 万 — and partly because it represented an ambitious yet achievable goal that sounded impressive to potential customers.
Now here’s the backstory. In 1963 — a year before the Olympics — Dr. Iwao Ohya, head of one of Tokyo’s biggest medical clinics, told a Yamasa engineer named Juri Kato that the Japanese weren’t moving enough. Ohya’s prescription? Walk 10,000 steps a day. Not based on a study. Not based on clinical data. A doctor’s gut feeling about a round number. Kato spent two years building a device around that idea, and the Manpo-Kei was born.
The marketing slogan? “Let’s walk 10,000 steps a day!” That was it. No specific health promise. No “you’ll lose weight” or “you’ll prevent heart disease.” Just — walk more. The pedometer will count. The number sounds good. Buy the gizmo.
It tied into their culture vibe, and the gizmo caught on quickly. The Japan 10,000-Step Walking Association sprang up almost immediately — with chapters in all 47 prefectures — organizing group walks measured by the Yamasa device. Gradually, this marketing-created benchmark began its journey from Japanese walking clubs to global fitness culture.
##Here’s the Straight Dope and What It Means for You
Walking is one of the greatest things you can do for your body. That part is real, both physically and mentally. The number of steps? That’s just arbitrary.
A 2022 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine followed nearly 79,000 adults and found that walking 10,000 steps per day was associated with a 51% lower risk of dementia, a 72% lower risk of dementia when walking at a brisk pace, and reduced cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality.
But here’s the part nobody talks about: intensity mattered more than step count. People who walked fewer steps but walked faster got better results than people who hit 10,000 steps shuffling around the house.
A separate study in JAMA Neurology confirmed that even 3,800 steps a day — less than half the “magic number” — was associated with a 25% lower risk of dementia.
So the question isn’t “did I hit 10,000?” The question is: did I walk with purpose today?
What Nobody’s Telling You: The Fasted Walking Advantage
Here’s where it gets interesting — and where this stops being another article you’ve already read ten times.
When you walk in a fasted state — meaning you haven’t eaten for 12+ hours — your body is running on a fundamentally different fuel system. Your insulin is low. Your glycogen stores are partially depleted. Without a fresh supply of glucose from a recent meal, your body pulls more energy from stored fat. That’s not a theory — it’s basic metabolism.
The research on this is stacking up:
Men who exercised before breakfast burned double the fat compared to men who exercised after breakfast. That’s from a 2019 study out of the University of Bath, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Double. Same exercise. The difference was insulin levels — lower insulin during fasted exercise means your body uses more fat from your fat tissue and the fat within your muscles as fuel.
A 2018 study in the International Journal of Obesity looked specifically at healthy men doing brisk walks in fasted vs. fed states. The fasted walkers showed significantly higher fat oxidation during the same walk — same duration, same speed, same route. Only difference: timing.
A 2016 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Nutrition reviewed 27 studies and confirmed that aerobic exercise performed in a fasted state consistently produces higher fat oxidation than the same exercise performed after eating.
A 2015 study published in EBioMedicine found that exercise increased 24-hour fat oxidation — meaning total fat burned over an entire day — only when it was performed before breakfast. Exercise after eating? No 24-hour fat burning boost.
Now — does more fat burning during a walk automatically mean more fat loss over time? The research suggests it does, but doesn’t prove it definitively. Your total calorie balance across the day still matters. But the evidence consistently points in one direction: if you’re going to walk anyway, walking in a fasted state gives you a metabolic advantage. The science suggests more fat is being used for fuel. That’s not nothing.
This is why I coach the 17/7 Protocol the way I do. You’re not just skipping breakfast. You’re creating a metabolic window where low-intensity movement — a walk, some bodyweight exercises, a session on the rowing machine — works harder for you. Your body is already primed to use fat for fuel. Walking just accelerates what’s already happening.
You Don’t Need a $400 Watch to Walk
I walk anywhere from 2,500 to 12,000 steps a day. Some days more, some days less. I don’t obsess over the number because the number was never the point.
When I walk regularly, I feel better. More energy. Better mood. Clearer head. And I’ll tell you something — it’s much easier for me to keep the fat off when I’m walking consistently. Not because of the calorie burn (walking doesn’t burn that many calories). It’s the downstream effects: better sleep, less stress eating, more mental clarity about food choices.
You don’t need a tracker strapped to your wrist to tell you this. You already know it. You feel it.
Here’s what I’d suggest instead of chasing a number on a screen:
Walk every morning before you eat. Even 20 minutes. Even around the block. You’re already in a fasted state from sleeping. Your body is ready to burn fat. Don’t waste that window sitting at your desk answering emails.
Walk with purpose. Not a stroll. Not shuffling to the coffee maker. Walk like you have somewhere to be. The research shows brisk walking delivers significantly better results than casual walking — regardless of step count.
Walk without the gadget if it stresses you out. If your watch makes walking feel like a chore, take it off. A walk you enjoy and repeat daily beats a “perfect” step count you hit twice and then quit.
The Bottom Line
10,000 steps was a marketing gimmick from a Japanese clock company in 1965. Walking is genuinely good for you — that’s not the gimmick. But the specific number? Made up. The obsession with tracking? Optional.
What’s NOT optional: moving your body, ideally before your first meal, ideally with some intensity, ideally every day.
That’s it. It’s really simple.
When I walk regularly — fasted, in the morning, at a good clip — I feel better in every way. I know because I do it.
You can do this. It’s not a big deal. Twenty minutes. Before you eat. Tomorrow morning.
Stay strong, keep busy and active.
To Your Success,
Bob
References:
- del Pozo Cruz, B., et al. (2022). Association of Daily Step Count and Intensity With Incident Dementia. JAMA Neurology.
- del Pozo Cruz, B., et al. (2022). Prospective Associations of Daily Step Counts and Intensity With Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Incidence and Mortality. JAMA Internal Medicine.
- Edinburgh, R.M., et al. (2019). Lipid Metabolism Links Body-Fat Distribution to Breakfast Meal Exercise Responses. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. University of Bath. (The “double the fat” before-breakfast study.)
- Edinburgh, R.M., et al. (2018). The effect of brisk walking in the fasted versus fed state on metabolic responses, gastrointestinal function, and appetite in healthy men. International Journal of Obesity.
- Vieira, A.F., et al. (2016). Effects of aerobic exercise performed in fasted v. fed state on fat and carbohydrate metabolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition. (27 studies reviewed.)
- Iwayama, K., et al. (2015). Exercise Increases 24-h Fat Oxidation Only When It Is Performed Before Breakfast. EBioMedicine.